Could you provide a brief background of your history with Marcotte Mining and what your vision is for the company as general manager?

Marcotte was launched by my grandfather and his sons in 1979, originally as a rebuild shop, completing service and repair on numerous OEM vehicles. It later designed and manufactured its own fleet of equipment using the Minejack carrier platform. After eight years working for Marcotte, I went to work for Don McLean for seven years. In 2015, the Timberland group approached me to rejoin the team at Marcotte, and I accepted. We focused on regaining our market-share and positioning ourselves as market leaders on the innovation and new technology front.

Marcotte works with contractors and mining companies that have operations around the globe, but our strongest marketshare remains within Canada and the US. Although we have a dealer in Mexico and are looking to other regions, we focus on supporting our customers 100% before looking to acquire new business. We want to engage with the industry, understand their challenges, and become a part of the solution.

Who are some of your key partners and are you actively looking for new partnerships to support your customers?

We are always looking for partners to support the industry more efficiently. ENS industrial is a key partner that assists Marcotte in Western Canada, while we help them with the East side. We also teamed up with KGHM, a mining company that has a manufacturing division Zanam in Poland. Marcotte technicians trained at their facility in order to support their vehicles within Canadian mines. We also partnered with Siemens, with over 900 electrical-drive trucks operating in open pit mines globally, to develop our first battery electric vehicle. We are at the manufacturing stage, and will be trialing and testing this month, and launching in September. By the end of 2018, we want to secure more strong partnerships, and develop new innovations.

Has your workforce grown due to all of these targets and achievements, and in which way is Marcotte helping women feel like they belong to the industry?

We are actively looking for people to join our team. We have a very loyal workforce, with many employees celebrating over 30 years with us. So we not only need to think of growth, but of the succession of the company. Marcotte takes advantage of the talent we have to mentor the up and coming generation. There is a real shortage of skilled labour today in Ontario, we struggle to find welders, electricians, and heavy-duty mechanics. We are able to navigate the challenges due to our partnerships, and by engaging females from elementary, to University levels. We work closely with local colleges and look at people across the province, Canada, and globally.

As a woman, there are certainly challenges, and at times you have to work twice as hard, but the opportunities within the industry are incredible. Being underground for up to 12 hours as a female can be challenging, even when it comes to basic needs, such as using the toilet. Having to take off full body overalls is unreasonable, which is why I also launched my Covergalls brand, which designs work clothes for females. If you can get women outfitted in a safe and proper workwear, they no longer feel they are an after-thought. We are trying to stray away from defining women and their positions in the industry as ‘non-traditional’, and making them feel like they belong in the sector.

Who are Marcotte Mining’s main clients and competitors?

Our main competitors are MacLean Engineering, Rock-Tech, Normet; certainly a number of utility manufacturers in the market. However, Marcotte is a solutions provider, not just an equipment retailer. We want to understand clients’ challenges and work together to constantly improve our solutions. We view our customers as partners, and want to accompany them, to service and support. In terms of our main clients, we work with Vale, Glencore, Goldcorp, Cementation, Redpath, Thyssen Mining; most of the major mining companies.

Could you highlight your flagship product and describe the way in which you designed it?

Our flagship carrier is the RAM 40, which stands for Raymond Arthur Marcotte in honour of our roots. We created it with the vision to become leaders into the future. We knew people were moving to Tier 4 engines, making use of new technologies, with a strong push towards battery electric. So we engaged all our employees, mining companies as well as industry experts, to receive feedback throughout the whole process of concept and design. We are proud of the result and will continue innovating for our clients in the future.